Saturday, December 31, 2005

Had a nice walk this afternoon to Marbury to feed ducks our bags of stale bread we'd collected over the holidays. They were mad for it! Lots of fights and scuffles broke out and we had to step in to pull them apart! Swans and geese joined in too- they must have been really hungry.Having a quiet night in and will drink a toast with some Bucks Fizz at midnight and let off sopme rockets we saved from November 5th if I can keep awake that long! Cheers!

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Well Christmas has come and gone again in a flash and we are almost back to normal again except for the bloated feeling and the slight hangover. It went pretty much to plan with no upsets though Granma had to have her tooth out the day before Xmas Eve , so that wasnt so good for her, but she seemed O.K. when we went round for our Chritsmas dinner . She had to cut her turkey up really small. I made a nut roast with chestnuts, walnuts, cashews and variious roasted seeds which was very nice even though I say so myself. We had to take our own Marmite and onion gravy too. Archie took his new guitar which you can see here- trying to crack granma's ornaments! Even though she is partially deaf she had no trouble hearing him! Argh! The poor neighbours! Out of all his presents this is the one that is picked up constantly, so a good choice. The 99p balancing tops are a favourite too.After dinner and the huge pile of washing we sat down to play games like Cluedo but we all felt shattered by this time and dozed off in front of the telly watching Shrek or whatever it was.Yesterday was a quieter day with some more games- Ludo, Coppit and cards etc. and more TV and hazel and Archie went into the garden to burn all the wrapping paper and boxes. For lunch we had the rest of the nut roast and some of granma's trfle for pudding. Pulled the home-made crackers that Roger and Jilly sent and wore silly hats. Mine had "Mr. Happy" scrawled on it. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be ironic or not? But I was happy most of the time and felt a warm glow of contentment being at home with the family. How lucky am I?

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The market was pretty quiet at Crewe today with half the stalls taken over my xmassy things like holly wreaths and wrapping paper etc. Hardly any junk to look through. I didn't find one bargain which is unusual for me. Hazel got a few stocking fillers though and the pork pie her Mom wanted. Also some spinning tops.We decided not to look for the bigger shops like Currys and Dixons etc. and come home again as we were hungry. Archies gone to see the "Narnia" film today with the school and this afternoon an assembly and prize giving. After we are going to see Granma Jones as it's her birthday.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Its hard to keep up sometimes - this last week seems to have whizzed by. Time to catch up. On Wednesday went into town again and found a DVD of old Felix the Cat films from the 20's. They hadnt even been digitally restored - just filmed as they were projected onto an old bed sheet hung up between some railings in an industrial estate somewhere? Hazel went for staff meal at weird shack in seedy part of Manchester. she said it was lovely food but the photo of the outside looked pretty scary with old car tyres and rubbish lying about outside the mean streets.Thursday was mostly forgotten. I sent out some more cards I think?Friday I walked into town again for some exercise and swapped the dodgy PS2 controller for a new one as it had been sticking and driving us mad. The shop assistant happily swapped it but said most people dont bother to bring them back as they "obviously will wear out if you use them a lot" and are happy to buy another! What an idiot!Also got some ink cartridges at a reduced price but even so they were very expensive. We tried the recycled ones but they last 5 minutes.Watched the last of Bleak House which has been very enjoyable - the best thing on the telly all week apart from Creature Comforts.Went to see the new King Kong film on Saturday which was excellent but very l-o-n-g! Too long really. I think they could have trimmed at least 30 minutes off it. Cinema only half full despite a big Q to start with.Hazel dropped us off at the Regal and went shopping for three hours as she didnt fancy three hours of screaming and monkey noises.Very cold with a thick frost over the weekend. Went to our old neighbours place in the nearby village for drinks and "light supper". I drank three glasses of mulled wine and felt very Christmassy ( tiddly).Today it was the shopping again and a haircut. I can feel the wind whistling round my ears now. Hazel has been clearing out cupboards of junk and throwing more stuff away. Finding things for her blogs and some old sketchbooks.The "Snap Fly" was an invention for SNAP comic which folded soon after I was introduced to it by Ivor Cutler. Typical! This was my first and last commission. It was published by Walker Books who had offices just around the corner from where we used to live.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

We were searching through Google to see how Archie was doing with his animations and came across this INTERVIEW from the Cornerhouse website that was alos published in their monthly magazine. Also a whole page of mentions about the various film festivals his films have been seen at and mail art sites I have dropped his name over the years.

Unlucky for some. It wasnt too bad actually despite the heavy shopping bag weighing me down and making my arms ache. I looked round for a bus but by that time I'd spent all my money anyway! Found a few bits and bobs for under the tree including a PC game about planet colonising and space station building for Archie. He likes all those Zoo, City, Rollercoaster Tycoon etc. type build up an empire games so he'll probably like this. Also some Popeye films on DVD from the 50's that have a couple of great old Fleischer Bros. animations sprinkled in between. A bargain for two quid in a charity shop. Bought a calender for next year to write reminders on- dentist appiontments, holidays, etc. Some typing and copying paper and sellotape. Found "Kid A" by radiohead for 50p which must be a bargain. I havent really liked much of what they do though- all sounds a bit doomy and gloomy to me. Also "We Are Scientists" from the library which is good and reminds me of Franz Ferdinand and The Kaiser Chiefs a bit.The postman has just been. A card and nice letter from someone who I used to work with and they moved to Amsterdam a few years back and I lost touch with them so that was nice. No address on the letter or envelope though so hope the old one will find them. Posted tons of cards and packets today. The post box was full and they all slid out again so had to find another to stick them in!

A bit out of date but you can find a page about my Gocco exploits a couple of years ago courtesy of Mark Pawson HERE.

Friday, December 09, 2005

This is an old booklet I used to make around the festive yule-tide to swap with mail artists and amuse my friends with at Xmas. I dont make them anymore. I'm all Christmassed out.Last night went to the schools "World Fusion " evening which was mostly depressing playettes and songs about death, poverty, AIDS, global warming etc. They could have lightened the mood a bit with something cheerful at this time of year! Bring back the panto! Archie was in a short piece about a black boy being bullied. Archie was a bully and had to say "He's black!" and "Blacky!" etc. and strike a pose as another group on the stage did there bit about the Greenhouse Effect and so on. Sheer torture! Hazel escaped by being at college all day and having a lecture to sort out when she got home but i think she was really watching the Culture Show.She said it was weird at the college today as they are filming a future episode of Coronation Street in the main gallery and she kept seeing members of the cast and even walked to work with Sanita- a strange parrallel universe she'd been sucked into.I went to town and didn't see anyone famous. The library book sale was still on but didn't find anything else. I bought a book about horror films in the Help The Aged shop to cut up. I already have it.Also some small presents. Also milk and bread.Walked home as it was quite a pleasant day , milder than of late. Found some packets and other mail on the doorstep so presume our usual postman is away or ill. Have been making more Xmas cards and putting them in envelopes.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Went to Manchester yesterday and stayed over night at a hotel near the Cornerhouse where Archie's animations were showing at the Under Exposed student film festival. It was pouring with rain by the time Archie and I got to Piccadilly Station and we had to walk through great puddles all the way to the Cornerhouse where we met Hazel, who had been at college all day. We dropped out stuff off at the hotel just round the corner which was quite spacious and clean and dried off a bit before walking to the Continental market behind the imposing grandeur of Manchester Town Hall which has a huge plastic Santa climbing over the roof. The market is great and full of intriguing stalls of bubbling cauldrons of spicey soups and sauerkraut. Great rotating grills of sausage and kebabs were roasting over fires blazing under awnings groaning with holly and misteltoe etc. A brass band played carols nearby to complete a very festive scene. We all had delicious dutch pancakes which were tiny but very filling , covered in cream and chocolate sauce ( had lemon juice ). Archie bought some gingerbread and brandy snaps.Then we had a pizza before the showing at 8.i5 at the Cornerhouse cinema 2, down in the basement which was a sell-out. Lucky to get seats ourselves as they forgot to put any aside for us.A short interview conducted by Ra from the Cornerhouse with Soup Collective who make promos and films for bands like Elbow and Snow Patrol etc. Then the films in competition including Archies which was well recieved and won the runner up prize, we leaned today.I didn't sleep very well in the hotel although it was perfectly comfortable. I never do in a strange bed though and woke up several times wondering where I was!After breakfast at the college we wandered back to the Cornerhous for the next showing with Archie's films in the shorts section for Students ( last night was for everyone ). A bit rowdy with groups from several schools and youth groups attending. Some good films though and there was a raffle too which I won ( book about horror films and Corpse Bride T-shirt) so a pretty good day all round. Caught the 12.26 p.m. train from Piccadilly to Northwich and home by two. Had some japanese fishy/rice snacks on the rain as a treat. Archie has gone off to ski practice now with the school - a busy boy!

Friday, December 02, 2005

I think they must have been digging the road up somewhere because the traffic was at a crawl today into town. It was quite nice to actually walk faster than they were moving and get there before them. I felt quite smug and healthy as they fumed in their Ford Mondeos and Robin Reliants etc.No rare Beatle Beat record at the Oxfam today. Nothing infact. I got some butter, bread and bananas- everything beginning with the letter "B". Ex-Beatle George was next on the Concert for Bangla Desh DVD borrowed from the library. I never saw it at the cinema so nice to see now. The hair in it was phenomenal! Everyone had beards and moustaches, even the women!Bought a video at the library sale too for a quid. "24 Hour Party People" with Steve Coogan and Peter Kay. It's about Tony Wilson and the Manchester rock scene of the 80's. I think Peter Kay plays Morrisey in it.Walked home despite the heavy bag of shopping. Collected all the hair and fluff in the bedroom. Hazel is going to knit a vest with it. Hoovered the rabbit and cleaned out the hutch. Those big Sunday papers are so useful aren't they?

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Flobberlob

A kind of diary, a log, a ramble, nothing to do with the Flowerpot Men. My life as an artist, a collagist, a rubber stamper, a networker, a dad , a letter writer and a postcard maker. Observations about this and that in no particular order.

About Me

I grew up in the home counties around London during the 50's and 60's. Went to several art schools including Southend ,Chelsea and Manchester. Trained as a painter and printmaker but now mostly using collage. Collect novelty songs and old mail art amongst other things too numerous to mention.